NYC Downtown mainstays, trumpeters Dave Ballou and Herb Robertson, are heard in a full concert at The Stone in NYC in 2007 with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey, concentrating their work in the Satoko Fuji Orchestra and Orange Then Blue into their own quartet, this their first performance together their energy, inventivenss and enthusiasm is on full display.
Label: Out Of Your Head Records Catalog ID: OOYH 006 Squidco Product Code: 29317
Format: 2 CDs Condition: New Released: 2020 Country: USA Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold Recorded live at the Stone, in New York City, New York, on June 30th, 2007, by Jon Rosenberg.
"To those familiar with the NYC downtown music scene of the 80s and 90s, trumpeters Herb Robertson and Dave Ballou need no introduction. Having collaborated with the likes of Tim Berne, John Zorn, Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Dewey Redman, and countless others, both were at the center of what was one of the most formative eras for experimental and improvised music to date. In performance, the most common meeting place for trumpet players is within the section of a big band or large ensemble, and together Robertson and Ballou have performed in the Satoko Fuji Orchestra and Orange Then Blue.
However, after the recording session for Satoko Fuji's Undulation Herb and Dave identified it as essential to play together in a smaller format. In a quartet (with the addition of Drew Gress on bass and Tom Rainey on drums) each of their unique approaches to both improvisation and the trumpet would be the central focus, and highlighted in a way not possible in a large ensemble. Thus "The MacroQuarktet" (a portmanteau combining both the whole view as well as the detailed) was formed. The Complete Night: Live at The Stone NYC documents their first performance from June 30, 2007, available here in its entirety for the first time ever."-Out Of Your Head
"In 2008, the now defunct label "Ruby Flower" from Luxembourg released the only album by superband The MacroQuarktet" with Herb Robertson and Dave Ballou on trumpet, Drew Gress on bass and Tom Rainey on drums. The album, "Each Part A Whole" was a release of a concert given at The Stone in 2007, and it gives a complete rendition of the first of the two sets they played. Ballou and Robertson had been recording with Satoko Fujii's big band for the Undulation album, when they decided to share their musical ideas in a smaller ensemble format. The MacroQuarktet was born, and the initial album much sought after.
Now, so many years later, Brooklyn-based label "Out Of Your Head", releases the full concert by the quartet. The full original album is available on this release, with the second set clocking around fifty minutes in addition.
The four musicians perform in full improvisation with no prior discussions or agreements. This results in utterly fresh music that is equally unpredictable. Anything can happen. Robertson and Ballou use additional tools to acoustically alter their sound once in a while, but the variation in sonic timbre is primarily driven by lungs and lips and fingers. Ballou also plays valve trombone, tuba, the Eb alto horn and little instruments, and possibly also flute. They explore, they challenge each other. As their band's name suggests, they explore the tiny and go for the big picture, like pointillist paintings conjuring up feelings and imagery from little notes and in-the-moment interaction, moving between dense semi-rhythmic moments to light-textured free phases. It flows and cascades, it erupts and calms down again, in great collective movements of beauty, pristine sonic creation and sounds that are almost made tangible. There are moments of drama full of severe gravity, but also moments of fun, like megaphone shouts, sounds like dogs barking and other unusual interactions.
The second set consists of two pieces - "Crossing The Threshold" and "No Planet B" - both subdivided into several parts, giving a suite-like impression.
It's hard to compare both sets, and there is no reason why the first album only contained the first set, and I would personally even prefer the second set at this moment.
In sum, it is great to have the full performance available, now as one double CD. It was much sought after, and we can only applaud the label for having saved this great music from oblivion."-Stef Gijssels, The Free Jazz Collective